Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Trapped Within

Cross sighed as he leaned back against his blade. Killer had come back and informed them it was safe to return to Killertale. Then, after Nightmare mercilessly teasing him, the other had left with Killer, leaving Cross alone in the white remains of X-Tale once again.

He blinked as he saw Chara materialize next to him, out of the corner of his eye. "I wish we had more answers." They sounded frustrated. "I wanna know what's going on." Cross scoffed.

"Jeez, you know it's serious when we agree with each other." He mumbled. Chara blinked before rolling their eyes and pulling their knees up, huffing. Cross closed his eyes, sitting in quiet silence.

They both jumped and shot up as a soft humming began. It sounded muffled, like whoever was doing it was underwater. Cross shot to his feet and pulled his blade out of the ground, wielding it. Chara stood next to him as they both turned around towards the strange noise.

Both of them stopped. "No way... you have to be shitting me." Chara whispered, clearly shocked. Shaking, dripping, dark red wings slowly spread behind the red human figure. They both knew that face. The human-creature's hair was glowing red and rigged quietly around its head. Its eyes glowed with the same intensity.

Cross blinked as he felt Chara rummage in his pockets before pulling out the doll. They held the doll up, seeming to compare the two. At the sight of the doll, the human-creature's humming abruptly stopped. They were quiet. Cross was tense. He blinked as there was a dark chuckle. A voice that sounded like Nightmare's. But... it was far too happy.

One of the wings lifted and Cross was faced with the creature he'd heard about from both Killer and Ink. Shattered Dream ducked under the human-creature's wing to stand beside it. His gold-tinted tentacles waved quietly and his grin was unsettlingly wide. The same could be said of his single visible golden eye.

Red liquid from the human-creature's wings dripped down around him, painting the white space red. Cross was shaking. "Shit... Cross, we're trapped, aren't we?" Chara whispered. Cross gulped and nodded. They couldn't flee. He couldn't leave the AU.

As Chara spoke, the human-creature tipped its head. Shattered Dream didn't seem to hear Chara and took a deep breath. "My brother was here. Tell me, where has my dear brother gone?" His voice was high-pitched, like he was either on the verge of laughter or tears. His tentacles twitched.

Cross gulped. He couldn't. He remembered how haunted Nightmare had been when he'd arrived after seeing Shattered Dream. He didn't want to see him like that again. He narrowed his eyes. "Get out of here. There is nothing for either of you here." He said firmly, just barely keeping his voice from shaking.

Shattered Dream shook his head, seeming disappointed in Cross. "Tsk, tsk. Of course there's SOMETHING here! And while it may not interest ME, I can't say my friend here shares the same opinion." He grinned as the human-creature blinked at Cross calmly.

Cross froze and shifted himself into a defensive position, guarding himself. "I've heard a lot about you... You eat monsters." The human-creature blinked at him again, but said nothing. Cross furrowed his brow. "You do, don't you??" He demanded. After a moment, the human-creature nodded. Cross went cold.

"Not just monsters, my dear friend, right? You did go to Overtale, didn't you?" Shattered Dream asked the question almost innocently, turning to his companion curiously. Cross blinked. Chara got it a moment before he did.

"It eats humans too." Chara whispered in horror. The thought seemed to sicken them and they covered their mouth, looking down. Their body shook and Cross slowly moved to stand in front of them.

Shattered Dream tipped his head, clearly finding it odd that Cross had moved to the right for seemingly no reason. The human-creature, on the other hand, Cross had no doubt it could see Chara. "Friend, are you hungry?"

The question was directed to the human-creature. It blinked at Shattered Dream before turning its piercing gaze back to the two of them. Cross' hands tightened a bit on the handle of his blade. If this creature was anything like Scooter, it would be a bitch to try to kill. He briefly wondered if it even was killable.

The human-creature shook its head, turning away from them. "I see, I see. Quite a BARE-BONED snack, if you ask me!" Shattered Dream snickered, apparently finding himself absolutely hilarious. Shattered Dream turned to Cross. "Isn't it your lucky day??"

Cross was a bit taken back. He'd thought of the human-creature as acting like a sort of animal. But no. He could see it. There was intelligence behind those glowing eyes. And that... Cross gulped. That just made it all the scarier when he remembered what he'd been told it did.

Shattered Dream's tentacles curled fondly around the human-shape's shoulders. He giggled. "Let us go, friend! Other worlds await you!" He turned and slid down, seeming to melt into the ground, disappearing. Cross was left with the human-creature. It was staring at him intently. Like it was trying to figure out who he was.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Cross asked, not breaking eye contact. The creature shook its head and Cross held his blade with one hand. He held a hand to his chest and pulled out his SOUL. The mismatched sides glowed brightly.

The human-creature's eyes were wide. He flinched as its chest suddenly pulled itself apart to reveal a twisted-looking heart. It appeared to be several shards of black glass held together by red tendons. It was in the shape of a heart, but large holes in it showed it was completely hollow. Cross was shocked. Could that even be considered a SOUL??

Whether it was or not, the creature definitely recognized him. It pulled its SOUL back in and its chest stitched itself back up. It gurgled and backed up. It knelt down, drawing a circle in the ground before diving through it, the circle snapping shut behind it.

Cross pulled his own SOUL back into his chest. He dropped with a sigh of relief and he could sense the same feeling from Chara. The human-creature had left a large blood spatter in his white space. He stared at it in dismay.

He slowly pushed his blade back into the ground and sat against it, facing away from the stain. Chara appeared next to him. "How are you?" He asked his ghostly human counterpart.

"I have honestly never been so scared shitless in my life." Chara answered bluntly. Cross stared at them before sighing in annoyance.

"Stars, I hate when we agree on things..."